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Guangzhou

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Study in Guangzhou
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Geography and Climate

Guangzhou, often known as Canton, is the largest and the capital of southern China’s Guangdong Province. It lies close to the South China Sea, Hong Kong and Macau. Pearl River, the third longest river in China runs through Guangzhou and is navigable to the South China Sea. These geographical features bestow the name "South Gate of China" upon Guangzhou. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about 120 km (75 mi) north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port. The total area under the city's administration is 7,434.4 square kilometers, with the 10 districts occupying 3,843.43 square kilometers, or 51.7% of the total, while the two county-level cities occupy the rest. The Guangzhou government's official estimate of the city's population at the end of 2009 was 10.3 million, an addition of 152,500 people from the previous year, what made Guangzhou the third most urban populous city in China. Due to its extensive foreign contact in the history, Guangzhou’s culture, also known as Cantonese culture, has maintained strong distinctions from the rest of China not only in its open-minded and entrepreneurial spirit, but in its dialect and world-famous cuisine.

Because of its location just south of the Tropic of Cancer, Guangzhou’s climate is generally humid and warm, featuring wet summer with high temperature and mild winter. With sufficient rain and sunshine, the city bears a moderate temperature all the year round. The annual average temperature in Guangzhou is 22.6 cent-degree while the mean rainfall is over 1,700 mm.

Economy

Because of its moderate climate and advanced natural conditions, Guangzhou is abundant with products’ resources. The main grain crop is paddy rice, and also there is maize, wheat, sweet potatoes and so on. There is peanut, sesame seed, sugar-cane, beans, tobacco, bast-fibre plants, tea and some other cash crops. There are more than 500 kinds of fruits, so it is called the land of fruits. There are 340 kinds of vegetables. And there are 210 kinds of wild animals. Also there are hundreds of medicinal materials.

Guangzhou is a major industrial city in southern China and is a main manufacturing hub of the Pearl River Delta, one of China’s leading commercial and manufacturing regions. As an industrial city, Guangzhou has an integrated steel complex, paper mills, a long-established textile industry, and factories producing tractors, machinery, machine tools, newsprint, refined sugar, small appliances, tires, bicycles, sports equipment, porcelain, cement, and chemicals etc. After years of economic development, Guangzhou has developed into three industrial chains in the east, west and south are in place together with four pillar industries consisting of auto, iron & steel, ship-building and petrochemical. Having been enjoying the policies support from central bureau after the economic liberalization, along with financial might and international experience of nearby Hong Kong and inexpensive, migrant labor force from the countryside, Guangzhou bears a dramatic growing speed. 

In 2009, the city’s GDP reached 911.28 billion yuan with per capita accounted 89,498 yuan. The city also holds China’s largest Import and Export Fair, also called "Canton Fair" which is held every year in April and October by the Ministry of Trading.

Tourism

Rich in historical and cultural heritages, Guangzhou is a notable tourists’ destination. Tourist attractions in Guangzhou include the famed Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family, Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, the Huaisheng Mosque and various thematic parks which are full of excitement.

Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family is also called Chen Clan Academy or Chen's Lineage Hall which was a place both for offering up sacrifices to ancestors and for study. Now it serves as Guangdong Museum of Folk Arts and Crafts to show the most characteristic Guangdong architecture. Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, having a long history of about 1,400 years, is one of the four best Buddhist temples in Guangzhou. While Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou is one of the oldest mosques in China, given that Guangzhou was where Islam was introduced to China in the 7th Century. The mosque is established for remember the ancestor of Islam, Mohammed. So the name of the mosque, Huaisheng, means 'remember the sages'. It is one of the four most well-known mosques in China. Thus it is an excellent place to visit if you want to learn about Islamic culture in China.

Numerous of Chinese dishes originated from Cantonese, which includes Guangzhou dishes, Chaozhou dishes and Dongjiang dishes and enjoys great popularity all over the country, and Guangzhou is the capital for this style of cooking. Surrounded by mountains and facing the sea, favorable geographical conditions have provided abundant resources necessary for the diversified food varieties in Guangdong since ancient times. The rich varieties of fruit and animal resources from the mountains along with marine and freshwater products contribute to the rich varieties of local food. Besides pork, beef, and chicken, Cantonese cuisine incorporates almost all edible meats, including organ meats, chicken feet, duck and duck tongues, snakes, and even snails. Some of the most famous Cantonese dishes include the Roast Suckling Pig, Dragon Fighting against the Tiger - stewed snake and wild cat, Taiye Chicken and Stewed Wild Dog Meat. As a matter of fact, visitors won’t loss the chance of experiencing the splendid culture of Guangzhou while enjoying the delicate Cantonese dishes.

Education

The city is also a cultural and educational center with several institutions of higher learning, notably Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan) Univ. and Jinan Univ. The city also boasts numerous reputed medical colleges; Southern Medical University and Guangdong Pharmaceutical University are among the most renowned ones.